Outside contracts, ‘Marketplace’ legislation OK’d by Oak Ridge City Council

Oak Ridge City Council approved several resolutions to waive bids on outside contracts, tabled one and removed five others during its most recent meeting.

Comment

By Beverly Majors

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Beverly Majors

Posted Jul. 15, 2013 at 6:26 PM
Updated Jul 15, 2013 at 6:28 PM

By Beverly Majors

Posted Jul. 15, 2013 at 6:26 PM
Updated Jul 15, 2013 at 6:28 PM

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Oak Ridge City Council approved several resolutions to waive bids on outside contracts, tabled one and removed five others during its most recent meeting.

The resolutions were part of City Council’s “consent agenda,” which involved several contracts with companies providing services to the city. The resolutions on the agenda were the leftovers from a June meeting when Council separated a resolution to waive the competitive bid process.

The contracts are generally based on written quotations and negotiated agreements with suppliers for the furnishing of routine materials, equipment and services for the city.

The competitive bid process is broken into three categories:

• Sole provider;

• Best provider; and

• Partnership provider.

Last month, Council agreed to separate those three categories; however, during that meeting, Council members passed resolutions pertaining to the “sole provider” and “partnership provider” classifications, but delayed signing off on the “best provider” piece of the competitive bid until some of the contracts and agreements could be reviewed.

This week, Oak Ridge City Council approved 11 of those resolutions, which total more than $800,000 in contracts.

Stating she was confused, Council member Trina Baughn had asked that five of the 16 agenda items be taken off the agenda.

“I don’t see how we could approve $1.7 million (in contracts) without discussion,” Baughn said.

At least two of the contracts pertained to awards for companies working in connection with the city’s water & wastewater Environmental Protection Agency order to improve the city’s 70-year-old sewer system.

One of those, a contract to Performance Contracting Group, Rather Sewer Inspection Services, Intuitive Technologies and others as needed for sewer cleaning and inspection was in the amount of $200,000.

Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder told City Council members the contracts are pre-signed and would “give us some wiggle room on negotiations.”

Baughn had questions about why those contracts weren’t put out for bid, stating: “I don’t see anything fair about this.”

Cinder explained the companies were “specific need” companies, because the work being done in the city “is very special.” Baughn, however, said she wouldn’t approve anything related to the EPA mandate “until the city takes responsibility for its mistakes.”

Other Council members said they understood the process in the case of these particular companies because the bid process could delay some of the work.

The contract with Integracon, Geo-Jobe GIS Consulting, z11 Communications and other companies needed to provide temporary technical support for information services in the estimated amount of $300,000 was removed, but later approved after City Council members voted to remove the contract with Integracon, a company also involved in the EPA work, which put the estimated contract bid at $265,000.

Page 2 of 2 - City Council member Anne Garcia Garland suggested the separation of the EPA-related resolutions, which Council approved after discussion. Council also removed the resolution award to Temp Systems Inc., Accountemps, Alternative Staffing Inc., Recruitwise, Staffing Solutions, At-Work and other companies as needed for temporary employment services in the estimated amount of $475,000.

Two other resolutions removed, but later approved, included a resolution to support the passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act, “which puts Main Street retailers on an equal footing with Internet sellers,” and a resolution on second reading to amend the animal control ordinance to allow dogs off-leash in a city-owned dog park.